Anyone driving along Cleveland's East Shoreway toward downtown can't help
but notice the vast expanse of open space known as Burke Lakefront Airport.

The airport's 450 acres of largely underused, growth-inhibiting land is yoked to a money-losing, city-owned airport operation devoted primarily to corporate jets, helicopters and flight schools. It's also aneyesore that gobbles up most of Cleveland's valuable lakefront and thatmany people believe should be converted to other
uses, such as housing, retail, park space or mixed-use development.

Closing Burke would require the blessing of the Federal Aviation
Administration, which isn't in the habit of de-activating airports -- yetthat
might be the easy part. The airport is largely built on landfilland part of it reportedly sits on an old municipal garbage dump, which raises
environmental and structural issues should somebody want to build there. There also are cost, access and political impediments, including the fact the airport is cut off from downtown by an interstate highway and heavily used freight and passenger railroad lines.

Mayor Frank Jackson strongly supports preserving the
airport, which handles primarily general aviation aircraft and serves as a
reliever for Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.

He also is committed to keeping Burke open in order to
provide much-needed clarity to developers considering projects elsewherealong the
waterfront. Given that, it is highly unlikely that he will change his mind.

Still, it's hard not to see the
benefits of closing the airport to provide greater accessibility to the
lakefront and new areas for growth. That's why Jackson, despite his stand, should at the very least commission a thorough, impartialstudy to analyze
the pros and cons of getting rid of Burke.

One of the foundations in town should step up and help
finance it.

Converting Burke is hardly a new idea. In 2002, reacting to what appeared to be the public's overwhelming support for more lakefront access,then-Greater
Cleveland Growth Association President Dennis Eckart was quoted in The Plain
Dealer as saying, "The early return is
in, and Burke is toast."

Well, not quite. It lived on. But should it?

It's been suggested that much of the smaller, general aviation activity now at
Burke could shift to Cuyahoga County Airport in Richmond Heights. And, according to a recent article by Plain Dealer reporter Alison Grant, a 1987 U.S. Environmental Protection Agency study found no evidence of hazardous materials having been dumped in the landfill where Burke is
located, which seems to bode well for other uses.

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Ideally, the business community would have to get behind any decisionto close Burke -- and a credible study laying out the economic (and talent-recruitment) benefits might provide part of that impetus.

For now, Joe Roman, CEO of the pro-business
Greater Cleveland Partnership, says his focus is on attracting more commercial flights to Hopkins, where
United Airlines is closing its hub. He suggests that Cleveland's
two airports – Hopkins and Burke – begin meeting with the Cuyahoga County Airport to figure out the best way to provide air service to the
region.

"Where it goes from there, I'm not going to predict," Roman
said.

Cuyahoga County Executive Ed FitzGerald, who is running for
governor, did not respond to a request for comment by deadline.

Any assessment of Burke should include the effect its closure might
have on Cleveland's downtown. Businessexecutivesenjoy the convenience of flying out of Burke on corporate jets. A number of professional sports teams
coming to play at FirstEnergyStadium, Quicken Loans Arena and Progressive
Field also fly into Burke.

Cleveland has managed to muster the will over the years to
build new stadiums downtown and, most recently, a new convention center complex.
Doing away with Burke airport would be the boldest move yet.

But does it make sense and can we afford to do it?

Or maybe that's not the question. Perhaps, it is: Can we afford not to do it?

One thing is certain. As we go about reshaping Cleveland's image and its future, a vast wasteland along the lakefront and so close to downtown does little to enhance either.

What should the future hold for Burke Lakefront Airport? Tell us what you think in the comments section below.

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